After the Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in his Budget speech proposed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in food processing sector, the Central government has begun working on to establish small food clusters. Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur has said that the government is keen to boost the income level of the farmers by processing agricultural products particularly fruits and vegetables.

“Each small food cluster will focus on processing of fruits and vegetables grown in its surrounding region. There is a sense in the government that there should be small food clusters focusing on processing one or two agriculture commodities grown in surrounding areas,” Kaur said.

She stated that such clusters will have more flexibility to ensure their viability.

Incidentally, the government is laying stress on farmers to engage in productions of fruits and vegetables, besides the normal food grains to supplement their incomes.

Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu in the Rail Budget (2016-17) has also proposed allowing poor people to grow horticulture, including fruits and vegetables on the idle land of the railways across the country.

With back to back below average Monsoon in various parts of the country in the last two years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the National Workshop on Agriculture in Gangtok had advocated the farmers to engage in horticulture activities for alternative means of income.

The Central government in March 2015 had allocated 17 mega food parks by apportioning 10 of them to private companies, including Adani Group and Ruchi Soya. The remaining seven of them were lapped by the state government PSUs. Five new Mega Food Parks have been operationalised in the last 19 months in the country.

“The processing of fruit and vegetables will double with the expected rise in foreign fund inflows after government in this year’s budget allowed 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products manufactured in India. This will lead to creation of ‘swadeshi’ (local) infrastructure with ‘videshi’ money (foreign investment). Besides, farmers will also get remunerative prices for their produce with the adoption of modern agricultural practices required for producing agricultural produce on a large scale to meet the requirements of organised marketing,” Kaur said.

Incidentally, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare is of the view that 40 per cent of the fruits and vegetables grown in the country perish before being reached to their markets.

“The government has been taking steps to involve private players to set up cold chains and other necessary infrastructure to ensure that the fruits and vegetables grown are not wasted. We have seen some progress, but we need investment by the private players in a big way to ensure that no agricultural produce is wasted in the country. The small food clusters along with necessary infrastructure can help us achieve the objective,” said a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture.

With the e-market for farmers on the anvil, officials claim that the food clusters, with the help of the private investment, can prove to be a boon for the farmers in times when they are faced with the vagaries of the Monsoon.